Boosting the efficiency of thermal power plants by 10% can help the National Iranian Oil Company reduce fuel delivery to power stations by 25% or 25 million liters per day between November and April.
Based on data from the Thermal Power Plants Holding Company and the Iran Power Generation, Distribution and Transmission Company, power plants need 100 million liters of liquefied fuels, namely mazut and diesel to keep functioning in the five-month period, IRNA reported.
Given the Persian Gulf FOB prices for diesel and mazut ($1 per liter), the rise in plants’ efficiency can help NIOC generate at least $3.7 billion in the 150-day period in export revenues.
The less fuel is burnt, the more effectively air pollution will be tackled in metropolitan cities.
Industries and power plants use close to 320 million cubic meters of natural gas as feedstock per day and because NIOC cuts their supply between November and April, they are provided with diesel and mazut as alternative fuels for less than 1 cent per liter.
Supplying such facilities with cheap fuel discourages them from implementing plans to boost efficiency and the vicious cycle is expected to continue forever.
Liquid fuel is sold as cheap as 1.5 cents and 6.5 cents to cement and steel factories respectively, causing them to be totally reluctant to carry out projects to enhance efficiency in their units.
According to Mostafa Rajabi-Mashhadi, the power industry’s spokesman, the efficiency of thermal power plants has been boosted by 3% over the last three years to reach 40%.
“The improvement has reduced annual gas use in power plants by at least 3 billion cubic meters,” he said.
“As efficiency increases, less natural gas is used in the power stations. An estimated 50 billion cubic meters of gas are consumed annually in Iran’s 129 thermal power plants.”
The spokesman stressed that a 1% rise in efficiency helps cut gas use by 1 bcm per year.
Majlis Research Center’s Report
According to a report by Majlis Research Center, a 1% increase in the country's thermal power plant efficiency will save enough money to build a 600-MW power plant.
The construction of three F-class gas turbines with 58% efficiency will be completed in Tehran in the current fiscal year (started March 21) and raise the average efficiency of power plants to 42%.
Modern turbines consume less gas and are environmentally-friendly.
Electricity generation in a simple- and combined-cycle power plant rises to 40% and 59%, respectively, with the help of F-class turbines manufactured by MAPNA Group – Iran's engineering and energy giant.
The energy efficiency of a conventional thermal power station is typically 37%. Combined-cycle systems have higher levels (around 55%).
A combined-cycle power plant uses both gas and steam turbines to produce up to 55% more electricity from the same fuel than a traditional simple cycle plant. The waste heat from the gas turbine is sent to nearby steam turbines to generate electricity.
The government has said it wants to phase out inefficient power plants, improve aging electricity infrastructure and improve access to advanced power production technology.
"Under regulations outlined by the Energy Ministry, all new power plants must have efficiency rates of 50% and above," Rajabi-Mashhadi said.
Iran has an installed capacity of 90,000 MW.
Thermal units either use steam, gas-powered or combined-cycle turbines and account for 73,000 MW of the total electricity output.
According to Mohammad Ramezani, deputy for projects development at TPPHC, the capacity of Iran's thermal power plants has risen by 3,500 megawatts over the last 12 months.
“Linking up 17 gas and steam units with the national grid has helped boost output capacity in thermal power stations to over 72,900 MW,” he said.
